Staunton Harold Nurseries is a lovely garden centre located on the Staunton Harold estate (which does mean a drive down some old country lanes). The estate houses a stable block which has been converted into a craft centre, there are walks around the estate & lake, a church (overlooked by the National Trust) and a specialt aquatics centres. So with all this at hand it is a popular day out and many people visit the garden centre just for a nose.
As a garden centre it is well laid out with a good range of plants but they are expensive compared to other centres in the region. Their range or outdoor ornaments is poor in my opinion. As the prices are more on the expensive side this is a place for you to buy 'treat' or specialist plants as opposed to the lock, stock & barrel of your gardening needs.
Within the garden centre is the Peach Tea Room set in the old oconservatory which is a lovely setting for a cupp but the food is disappointing (you'd be better spending more and walking over to the Stable Tea Rooms). The tea room doesn't take cards by the way.
The inside part of the garden centre has a gift and fancy homewares section. They always have a good choice of conservatory and outdoor furniture.
From October they dedicate a large part of the indoors to their Christmas stock which is worth a visit in itself. They always present their Christmas stock beautifully and have a number of special evenings and events in the run up to Christmas such as reindeer and Santa arriving.
They have a Santa ride & grotto which is ridiculously expensive in my opinion (2007 price was £7 per child!)
A nice garden centre to saunter around, often has nice gift bits to buy and their actual Christmas decorations are well priced but otherwise it leans towards expensive and it can be easy to get carried away! read more